Some of the travellers on my trip were upset that we wouldn't be going to Stonehenge.It was the day of the summer solstice and the park people would only allow 20,000 people in that day.We were too far away to be part of that group, so we went to Avebury, a town with a stone circle, instead.That seemed like a good and tame solution.We arrived after lunch to a huge crowd.
I should have realized what we were in for when I saw a large sign on the fence with a tough looking dog's face on it.It said, "Hi, I am Griffin and my friends and I are drug sniffing dogs. Do you feel lucky?If not, use the red trash bin next to this sign for your stuff."By now the red bin was stuffed with who knows what and laying on it's side.Rumor had it that the police had given up and just hoped that their would be no bodies to scrape up at the end of the day.
I wandered along the path through the stones and felt the need to press my fingers against one's surface.What delightful warmth that stone loaned my hand.It felt friendly to me, welcoming.A lovely moment.As I drifted away,
I encountered oddities.Angel wings, feathers in the hair and a stifling hot long grey robe on a stooped gentleman. Strange smells and glazed eyes.And someone in the ladies room chanting..."this is dirty,dirty,dirty..".
Each time I passed a fellow bus mate we looked at each other with puzzlement.The saddest thing that I observed came at the end of the visit as I waited for the bus.On a small knoll, was a group of very intoxicated, middle aged to young people, celebrating the solstice.One particularly staggering woman, had a small boy about four with her, wandering through the revellers.He sat on a stone and watched as person after person took a swig of the half empty liquor bottle.He was a beautiful, sad, blue eyed boy with longish brown hair. Was this scene his "normal?"I tried to say hello to him to give him something for the journey: he turned away. He will never leave my mind or my prayers.
On this particular stop, there was not a person late in getting on board on the bus.
3 comments:
What a scene. So many different kinds of belief systems - so many of the early sites have been co-opted. I find drug and alcohol abuses tragic. So glad you were on the prayer walk for them.
One time at Avebury, I was the only person - that I could see - cold, rainy, gray and a wonderful English wind. Treasure that time, in the sixties, yet how far the change. So happy to follow your prose footsteps.
Dear,how lovely to think of you there and at the Wall.The weather was perfect but the crowd was desperately looking for meaning in this place...may God find them all.....
What a sad, but warning message. Beautifully pointed out the multiple areas of harm caused by putting our faith in 'things.'
True faith and it's wonderful results in one's life is so easy to find--and free to those who ask. God has given so many wonderful promises to those who trust in Him--and not one of these promises has ever failed!
Still man seeks to serve a 'GOD' that he (himself) can control.
I will add that young boy to my prayer list also. One of God's promises is that 'where two or more agree on any (righteous) thing in prayer it will be granted.' I believe in that promise and have called on Go to keep it several times before. He has never disappointed me! He who is faithful will free that little boy from the hell that he is living in...Amen!
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